Ultimate
by btscores1
Summary: Jaiden Young was just some kid. Like anyone else, right? Wrong. A science demonstration gone wrong in his Science class gone wrong, Jaiden's suddenly blessed with amazing powers... and his best friend Connor is hellbent on forming him into the perfect hero.
1. Great Power

"Jaiden! Time for school!" My mom shouted. It was March, and I was coming back from Spring break. I remember it like it was 3 years ago... mainly 'cause it was. "Jaiden! Let's go! 10 minutes, dude!" She was on twitter. She had been since I fell asleep. She lifted her hat, and ran her hands through her thick dark hair. It was pretty when she spiked it up.

"I know... I'm commm... I'm cominafhg..." I mumbled into my pillow. I rolled onto my back, vand sat up. I didn't even open my almond shaped eyes.

"Jaiden!"

"Okay! I'm up! I'm up!"

"7:18, dude." My sketches of Spider-Man sat stacked up in huge piles on my drawing desk. Captain America and Iron Man were cool and all, but Spider-Man was amazing. And occasionally, I saw him swing by on my way to school. I was 12 at the time.

I shoved a mechanical pencil, pen, my iPod, and a small cartridge of pencil led into my left pocket as I swiftly dashed from my room to the hall to the shoe cubby to my backpack to the bus. I barely made it.

"And that is known as a 'function rule'." 7th period, math with Mr. Brooks—my favorite class of the day. He was hilarious! "And that, my small, not-so-skinny friends is because:"

"Functions rule." We all answered.

"Good job." I sat daydreaming for about 15 minutes before I realized we had an assignment to work on in class. As I scrambled to get the answers down, Jacob leaned over.

"Dude, did you hear? We're having a short-notice assemble. Apparently, some bad guys are barreling through Manhattan."

I answered quietly, "Nah, man. I heard Spider-Man stopped'm. Just like he always will."

"Enough with the Spider-Man crap. I saw it on the news; he was gettin' his tuchus whooped."

"Tsk, whatever." I scoffed.

Riiiiiiiiiinnnnng!

"Class is dismissed! Leave." My classmates and I headed to the gym.

"Everyone! May I have your attention please?" We all eventually quieted after plenty of shushing. "Does anyone here know Peter Parker?" About one person raised their hand. "Well, for those of you that don't, he was an outstanding student at Midtown High. I'm going to give you some devastating news.

"Spider-Man and Peter are dead." My heart dropped to my stomach. A lump grew in the back of my throat. I was so hurt.

"That's right. Peter Parker, the kid that teenagers have bullied for years was a superhero. I'm just as hurt as you are." Spider-Man was dead. And what bothered me the most was that there was nothing I could do to stop it. It was already done. All I could do was sulk. "That's all," She said, wiping the tears from her eyes, "period 8, everyone."


	2. Great Responsibility

I didn't talk the rest of the day.

Science with Mr. Murray, Period 8.

I walked in with a couple jocks, and rested my head in my right palm.

"…And this one I gotstraight from Oscorp." He unsheathed to tub from its leather harness. A specimen the size of a fingernail leapt around inside, smacking itself againstthe glass walls. "Genetically engineered to have all the adaptations of _most_ of the species—we haven't exactly found all of them. Now, I've gotta use the little scientist's room. 'Be back soon—don't touch."

Derek Breeze touched.

"Ha! It's so light!" He tossed back and forth across the room with his delinquent buddies. It flew millimeters above my head every time.

"Guys! Cut it out!"

"Quit whining. It's not like I'll—" I'll never know what he would've said. That idiot changed my life with his butterfingers.

The tube shattered against my cheek.

The spider panicked, and shoved its fangs into my neck.

I blacked out.

"Jaiden… come on, boy… good." I finally woke up in a hospital bed. An _extremely_ attractive girl satin front of me.

"What… *kakk!*… what happened?"

"You got bit by a spider."

"Cool… am I gonna die?"

"'Fraid so. You've got 24 hours to live." I laughed, and realized all too fast how achy I was.

"Great."

"You blacked out. 'Doc said you had some weird readings ofsome sort, but said you'd be fine in a couple days."

"How long was I out?"

"Couple days."

"Cool, so… why are you here? I mean, sitting on my bed?"

"Well, my mom's a doctor—yourdoctor, to be exact—and I said I could watch the cute Asian boy while she talked to his Mom. She said she saw the put-on I was puttin' on, and she didn't want to stand in my way!" He both laughed hard enough to hurt our sides. We both sighed in satisfaction. My face soon got hotter than it was once I caught the compliment.

"How'd you know I was Asian?"

"You're hot, tan, and you have very pretty, almond-shaped eyes. Even though you have a white boy haircut."

"Nice."

Shhhhhkkkttt! The curtains slid open not-so-quietly. My doctorpopped her head in. "No neckin' back here." She teased. "Vanessa. You're off duty."

She finished writing a number on my arm. "Call me sometime."

"Will do."

"Cool." She strutted out.

I turned to Doc. "Your mom has a change of clothes. You can go home now."

"Thanks!"

"Easy there," she said, "I'm not releasing you from prison."

"Ahh!" I shrieked as I awoke from my nightmare. "Whoo… whoo…it was just a dream… it's alright." I looked up at my bed.

_Wait, what?_

I instantly dropped onto my head.

"Ahhh!" I flipped through the air. Landed before immediately reaching for my phone.


	3. Flipside

"Duuuude… okay, why did you make me ride my bike here at 2:17in the morning?" Connor McAnnich, my best friend. We had been since 7th grade.

"Because… okay, y'know how I went to the hospital because of that killer spider bite?"

"Um… no. But continue."

"Well, I'm still a little achy."

"Just… show me so I can go to bed."

"No, I—" He gave me the look; that look when they tilt their head down a little bit and raise their eyebrows. "*Sigh*… close the door."

I flipped up onto the ceiling, and looked up at him. His jawdropped.

"DUUUUUDE… you're SPIDER-MAN!"

"No I'm not."

"Says the kid on the ceiling."

"I can't."

"But you HAVE to! I mean, you LOVE Spider-Man! You alwayscan't wait to tell me how you'd give anything to be him! Why the sudden changeof heart?"

I dropped to the floor. " Because… because I'm not brave. Theold Spidey had a blast, jumpin' around, punching stuff… but I'm not like that.I'm too scared."

"Even brave people get scared, dude." I shook my head. "Withgreat power, comes great responsibility."

I turned to him. "You got that straight out of a fortunecookie, didn't you?"

"Something like that."

"Dude, I just… I can't. I can't do it. I'm 12! I'm not the superhero type!"

"Neither was Peter! He was a total GEEK. And he's dead now…all I can do is sulk. But you… you can let Spidey live on! You can… you can doit! You HAVE to!"

"My point is: NO. I DON'T. Go home, man. I was hoping youcould come here and talk me out of it, but that obviously isn't going tohappen."

As Connor and I were walking home, we heard sirens. It soundedlike it was coming from our apartment building. We scurried toward theshrieking alarm. I, of course, was much faster than him.

It wasn't ours, but it was just across the street. People werestruggling to clamor out, and some did. I heard a little girl's cry.

"Help! PLEASE!" She weeped.

"Oh, man… did you hear that?" Connor shouted over the roaringflames.

The dancing lights burned into my memory. The girl continuedto shriek.

I shoved my backpack into Connor's chest. He caught it. "What're you doing?"

"You were right." I leapt into the air.


	4. Willing

"Are you ready to do this?"

"There's a difference between ready and willing."

"Shut up and lemme see." I exited the closet in my suit. It was a repurposed Halloween costume; the gloves were lose at the wrists, and the mask never stayed on quite right. Connor had tricked it out, though: He put padding on the elbows and knees, traction on the soles of my red, webbed, flat-sole shoes, one-way lenses in the mask, and a big, 3D spider emblem on the front and back, the arachnid's legs long and thin.

"Do I look like a superhero?"

"You will once you stick to walls in public." He turned be around. "Y'look nice. Now; 2nd most important aspect of Spider-Man: The lip."

"The lip?"

"Yeah! How he could talk a bunch of smack and have the skill to back it up! Now, with some practice, you can fight like he did—I assume it will come naturally, though—but I can teach ya how to be mouthy."

"Hey, I AM mouthy!"

"Dude, you remember your 'P's and Q's'."

"Okay, okay. Teach me."

"Y'know what? You can figure it out on your own."

"What? Why?"

"That's what you get for questioning me."

"See anything?" Connor said through the Bluetooth underneath my mask.

"Nope. It's a school night—we should just give up. I've been at this for a few hours now. I'm exauhsted."

"Looks like someone needs to build up some endurance. Now, I got something."

"How'd YOU get something while I'm out here gettin' my Spidey on?"

"Okay, gettin' better at that… I have a police radio. I get everything they say. And this patrol on 17th Broadway said they got a call from a woman who said she heard gunshots. They said it was small potatoes, and that she should go to bed."

"'Small potatoes'?"

"I… I don't know. Old people talk."

"Gotcha."

"Anyway, you should head over there. They just got the call—I don't think the shooting ended right after. They should still be there."

"On it."

"Be careful, dude. I don't wanna get sued by your mom if you die."

"I'll try." I dove into the crisp night air.

Sprinted across the side of a skyscraper.

Twirled off.

Bounded.

Leapt.

Dove.

"That better not be The Scorpion's money you're gambling with there, Julio." Smoke twirled from his handgun, mussel staring at the ceiling.

"Well, that Scorpion guy has a pretty crazy idea of what his money is, so…"

"Listen, JULIO… you just give us the money, and we'll get outta ya hair."

"I—I can't believe it! He's in MEXICO… and—and he sends you 'Enforcer' guys after me?"

"That's right… get ready to scream…"

"—We all scream for Ice Cream!" I dropped onto their table. "—No? Sorry; I thought that's where you were going."

They all unholstered their guns. "I—we thought you were dead!"

"Well… I'm clearly not… though you pointing your guns at me isn't exactly helping. Y'know, they say that guns are just a substitute for—" Even more were unholstered. "—Or not."

I spun through the room onto one of the supporting pillars of the warehouse. "Oh, wait, I know you guys!" I spun and kicked Julio in the face. "You're the Scorpion's ineffectual muscle!" I swung my fist. The enforcer ducked. I flipped back onto the table before he could react. "Y'know, if I had a dime for every time—"

"C'MERE, YA LIL' PIECE O' CRAP!" The big black man snapped his hand around my leg.

"Oof!"

He slammed be down into the crates so hard I bounced. "I AM SO GONNA ENJOY—"

I swung my foot into his groin. Thuk! "Stop yelling—that vein in your forehead's gonna burst." He doubled over, but didn't drop. "See—that's the part where you fall down."

"Yeah, well, it's gonna be better when you—"

"Guess what—don't care." My elbow dug into his cheek. "Good boy." I flipped and smashed a crate onto his head. "Now stay."

"Get down, guys!" He cracked his whip.

I spun away from the sharp tip.

Leapt forward.

Sthunk! I slammed their heads together.

Landed on my feet. Weeeee-oooooo-weeeee-oooo… "Jiggers, it's the cops!"

"Alright, that's enough, aleck. Just get out of there." Said Connor. I did so.

I flipped out the way I came in; a skylight. I doveinto an alley. Propped myself up against the cool concrete off my mask, panting."Did... did I just do that?"

"You just did that."

"That was…"

"Awesome, right?"

"Yeah! I've… I've never felt so great!"

"Well, get used to it," he spoke quiet enough to keep his parents asleep, "you're a superhero now.

"No turning back."


	5. Shielded

I had made it a habit not to bend two of my fingers to the heel of my palm, as I didn't have web shooters, or anything close to them.

My agility, speed, flexibility, and wall-clinging helped me get to school and back while avoiding the torment on the bus.

I flipped up onto a water tower, and twirled down onto the roof.

Someone grabbed my ankle. Slammed me down onto my cheek.

"Who are you?"

"Uh—"

"Why are you wearing that?"

"I, uh—"

"You don't deserve to wear that!" A slender, sexy teen stood in front of me. She wore a full body Spider costume. It looked somewhat similar to mine.

"Um—"

"Who are you?"

"That's enough!" I rolled to my feet. "Quit freaking out! I'm Spid—" She yanked my mask off. "Hey! That-that's against hero law!"

"Didn't know we had those." She threw my mask overboard. "Answer me this: why is a Chinese kid playing dress-up?"

"Listen, lady—" I snapped, "—I don't know who you are, but I'm FILIPINO. And I AM Spider-Man."

"Boy. Pretty sure you aren't a man yet." I scowled. "Alright, I've had my fun. Now hold still."

Thuk!

"Ugh… I'm sick of waking up with pain in my—" My eyes darted around the large room. "Where—"

"The Helicarrier, Mr. Young. Welcome aboard." I got out of my seat. "My name is Colonel Nick Fury. Good to see your face in person."

"How else would you—"

"We gather intel however we can."


	6. Just Spitballin

_Spitballs._

_Seriously, Johnny? What are you, 4?_

"Hey Jackie Chan! Look at me!"

"*Sigh*… what, Johnny?"

"Do I have something on my face?"

"No."

"Great! YOU do!" _Aaaaand more spitballs. That's it, Johnny…_

"That's it, Johnny!"

"Oooh… Jackie Chan grew some skin! Well, take a look, Parker! Look at me, then back at you. Who's the puny one here?" He turned to his adoring fans and laughed his ass off.

"Fine! Bring it, Hulk Hogan."

"You serious?"

RRRRIIIIIIING!

We paused. "Football field, after school. Just you and me." He pointed directly at my chest with his stubby finger.

"You gonna bring your little friends? I'd LOVE for them to see this."

"You want'm? You got'm."

"Good."

"You ready for this?"

"You know what I've never understood?"

He charged after me, getting closer by the second. "Why you call yourself Johnny! Because you and I both know," I flipped over him, yanked his hood over his face, and kicked him into his friends, "your name isn't Johnny."

"Don't test me Sulu!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not usually threatened by large toenails like yourself."

"Come here!" He charged again. "Lemme teach you a little somethin'!"

Sidestepped his dash. "What was that? I thought you were gonna teach me a lesson." I smirked.

"I… I am, I just…" He ran, and I rolled my eyes.

I vaulted over the behemoth. "Okay, I don't think either of us are learning anything here. How about I just finish it for the both of us? How does that sound?"

His friends had left right after the first flip. Now, you have to remember, _I'm_ the puny one. I was 5' 8'' and he was 6' 2''.

I twirled, grabbed his wrist, spun, and increased pressure. "You done yet, _Eugene_? Maybe I should go a little HARDER?" I increased pressure even further.

"No! Please!"

"Good. NOW KNOCK OFF THE BULLYING. GOT IT? I'M SICK OF IT, AND SO ARE MY FRIENDS. JUST REMEMBER THIS FEELING, 'KAY?"

I let him go, and headed to the principal's office.

* * *

"Suspended? You got SUSPENDED?"

"... it was an accident."

"Your principal said you nearly broke Eugene's arm!" My mom flailed. "What happened out there?"

"He was bullying me and my friends, and... I stood up to him."

"But... the kid's taller than I am... and you're... yanno... lanky."

"Mom!"

"I'm just sayin', I'm just sayin'."

"I don't know... adrenaline I guess."

"Right. Well... he was bullying you and your friends, right?"

"Yeah, I swear I didn't just jump him."

"Okay... you were just defending your friends, right?"

"Right."

"Well... I guess you aren't in trouble... not with me."

"Okay." I hugged her.

She hugged back and gave me a big sloppy kiss on the cheek. "We cool. Can you give me a second? I need to make a phone call." She gave me a grin.

Adrenaline?_ She isn't stupid-so how did she fall for that? Ohhhh... I got it. It's the hazel eyes. Always gets 'em._ "Yes, hi. My name is Ann Marie Young. M-hmm. Yeah, um, are your parents home, Eugene? Great. Can I speak to him? Thank you." She paused, and looked at me, still holding that grin. "Yes. Ann Marie Young. Yes, I'm Jaiden's mother. Yes, he claims he didn't do anything unnessicary. You heard me. Sir, please don't argue with me. _And if your son EVER lays a hand or a single ugly turn of phrase on my baby, I will personally come to your house with toothpicks and a sharpened toothbrush... and you won't be able to pick up the phone. Oh, and don't worry... your son's arm won't be his only broken limb._"

"Whoa..."

She placed her phone back on the desk, and fixed your jet black, spikey hair back into his original spikiness. "So... what do you want for dinner?"


End file.
